Units in the 1993 SNA SNA/M1.06/25.2 Fourth meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National...

Units in the 1993 SNA SNA/M1.06/25.2

Fourth meeting of the Advisory Expert Group on National Accounts

30 January – 8 February 2006, Frankfurt

UN STATISTICS DIVISION Economic Statistics Branch

National Accounts Section

Units in the 1993 SNA IntroductionThis presentation reviews the treatment of: ancillary activities, ancillary corporations, holding companies, special purpose entities (SPEs) trust funds and investment funds restructuring agencies and output of ancillary units

Units in the 1993 SNA Introduction cont

The 1993 SNA treats ancillary activities and corporations as an integral part of the establishments or enterprises that they serve.

The reasons: Ancillary activity “not for own sake but in support of” the

enterprise it serves (para 5.13)

Production processes can be recorded in the way producers perform them, respecting the choice of ancillary activities themselves or outsource them

Structural differences are recorded between specialization and integration of production processes including changes over time

creation of “artificial units” would suggest structural changes in

the economy that did not take place in reality


However, there are some disadvantages to the 93 SNA treatment.

Reasons for change: All economic activities should be shown in the

accounts, whether principal, secondary or ancillary to show the contributions and structural composition of GDP by economic activity

To record regional GDP correctly when the ancillary activity and unit it serves are in different regional economies

BoP transactions may not be recorded correctly when the ancillary corporation is non-resident.


The thrust of the recommendations on specific types of units follows from the basic recommendations, namely:

Only if unit meets the criteria of establishment: that units undertaking ancillary activities should be

recognised as establishments and Only if unit meets the criteria of institutional

unit that ancillary corporations should be recognised as

institutional units

Units in the 1993 SNA

Ancillary activities

Units in the 1993 SNA:Ancillary activities cont

Key features of production unit enterprise can engage in principal and secondary

activities with outputs delivered to other institutional units

establishment has single location and principal activity

Definition of ancillary activities

supporting activities providing services for intermediate consumption by establishments within same enterprise


Advantages in assessing ancillary activities as production units: contribution to and structural

decomposition of the GDP by economic activities

input-output structure of production regional GDP when the establishment it

serves are located in different regional economies

recording of BOP transactions when non-resident


Two alternatives:

to abandon the concept of ancillary activities altogether and to ALWAYS treat them as secondary production

to recognized units undertaking ancillary activities as separate establishments ONLY when satisfying conditions to be identified as establishments, called ancillary units


ALWAYS as secondary production implies:

recording the input structure or production technology with the principal product

classifying ancillary activities by principal activity

recording intra-enterprise deliveries as production


Units undertaking ancillary activities should ONLY be recognized as separate establishments when: separate establishments can be identified for

activities in horizontally integrated enterprises (1993 SNA: 5.30)

activities that span two or more headings at first level of breakdown of the ISIC in vertically integrated enterprises (1993 SNA: 5.34).

separate cost accounts of the ancillary activity can be identified

ancillary units are in a geographical location different from the establishments they serve


Recommendation 1: Units undertaking ancillary activities should be recognised as separate establishments (ancillary units) when they satisfy the conditions to be establishment and should be classified according to their own economic activity.

Recommendation 2: Output of an ancillary unit should be valued by sum of cost plus a proportional allocation of the operating surplus of the establishments it serves. Operating surplus of establishments it serves may be allocated to the ancillary unit in proportion to indicators such as their output, value added or employment.

Recommendation 3: Output of ancillary units should be allocated as intermediate consumption to establishments they serves in proportion to indicators such as their output, value added, or employment of the establishments using their services


Ancillary corporations

Units in the 1993 SNA:Ancillary corporations cont

The treatment ancillary corporations is related to that of ancillary activities the 1968 SNA states: “some individual legal

entities may not be viable economic agents; they may have been established for convenience only.”

the expansion of such “convenience” legal entities occurred in the 1980s and has now taken global expansion

initially created with the semblance of outsourcing ancillary activities

but the appearance of new arrangements of production and financing, brought about ancillary corporations that have no significant production or employment


Ancillary corporations are legal entities set-up for specific purposes such as the managing of the operations of companies and portfolios of assets and liabilities

They take forms such as head offices, restructuring agencies, special purpose entities, shell companies, limited liability partnerships or trusts


Ancillary corporations are not institutional units in the 1993 SNA, but treated as an integral part of the parent

their accounts are consolidated with those of the parent to form a single institutional unit

no output is generated by the ancillary corporations. they are regarded as artificial units created to avoid taxes,

to minimize liabilities in the event of bankruptcy, or to secure other technical advantages under the tax or corporation legislation in force in a particular country

In the light of the proposed change in the treatment of ancillary activities, the existing principles on ancillary corporations should be reviewed


The 1993 SNA recognizes as institutional units:

subsidiary corporations even though wholly owned and subject to control by another company

holding companies providing ancillary activities to its subsidiaries


Recommendation 4: Ancillary corporations should be recognized as institutional units and should be classified in their own right when they satisfy the criteria for qualifying as institutional units


Holding companies

Units in the 1993 SNA:Holding companies cont

Parent companies without significant production have been recognized as holding companies whose main activity is to control and direct the subsidiary companies (1993 SNA: 4.37)

The 1993 SNA treats holding companies as separate institutional units, but “looks through” them to the operations of their subsidiaries when determining their sector classification as financial or non-financial

However the main activity of a holding company is predominantly financial intermediation

Units in the 1993 SNA:Holding companies cont

Recommendation 5: Parent companies without significant production recognized as holding companies should be classified as other financial intermediaries


Special purpose entities

Units in the 1993 SNA:Special purpose entities cont

SPEs are set up to carry out activities or series of transactions directly related to the specific purpose for which they are formed

commonly engage in activities such as providing asset management, corporate treasury services, trusts, public-private partnerships and securitization programs

little or no employment, or physical presence and many are set up in economies other than that of the parent company


Recommendation 6: SPEs should be treated as institutional units when they satisfy the criteria for qualifying as institutional units and their output should be valued at cost if no market valuation method is available.

Recommendation 7: There is no need for a separate classification of SPEs as they undertake a range of economic activities. The activities should be examined on a case by case basis and classified by existing industrial and institutional sector classifications

Recommendation 8: The term securitization vehicles should be used for institutional units that undertake securitization of assets only and such institutional units should be classified as other financial intermediaries.

Units in the 1993 SNA:Special purpose entities contSpecial considerations apply to non-resident SPEs created by government to undertake quasi-fiscal activities.

it is recommended to record all transactions between the government unit and the SPE and in some instances to impute transactions, to reflect these activities appropriately in the government accounts to capture more appropriately the fiscal activities of general government


Recommendation 9: All flows and stock positions between the general government and the non-resident SPE should be recorded in the general government and SPE accounts when they occur.

Recommendation 10: If securitization is based on a future stream of general government revenue it is not the sale of an asset, but a borrowing transaction of the government. The economic substance of this transaction is best accounted for by imputing general government borrowing from the non-resident SPE for the same value and at the same time that the SPE incurs a liability to the foreign creditor.

Recommendation 11: When government creates non-resident entities, such as SPEs, to undertake government borrowing and/or incurring government outlays abroad with no economic flows between the government and the SPEs related to these fiscal activities, transactions should be imputed in the accounts of both the government and the non-resident entity to reflect the fiscal activities of the government


Trust funds and investment funds

Units in the 1993 SNA: Trust and investment funds cont

In light of the recommendations about ancillary units and corporations, the EGM on Industrial Statistics makes the following recommendations for the treatments of trust funds and investment funds

Recommendation 12: Trust funds and investment funds that are created as legal entities, even without employment, should be treated as institutional units. Their output should be valued at cost if no market valuation of their output is available. These units should be classified, separately from securitization vehicles, in the industry classification and as other financial intermediaries in the institutional sector classification.


Restructuring agencies

Units in the 1993 SNA: Restructuring agencies cont Restructuring can be divided into four types of economic activities:

reviewing the rehabilitation plans and overseeing the liquidation or reorganization process of corporations ( financial advisory services);

reviewing the rehabilitation plans and overseeing the restructuring of non-financial production processes of corporations (management consultancy services);

controlling and directing the rehabilitation plans and overseeing the liquidation or reorganization process of corporations by acquiring the assets and liabilities of the corporation (holding company services);

securing financial stability through transactions in financial assets by acquiring, managing, and disposing of impaired assets of financial corporations (asset management services on own-account).

Units in the 1993 SNA: Restructuring agencies cont

Restructuring agencies may serve public or private sector objectives

RA for public purposes concern the restructuring of public sector enterprises, for example: via privatization financial rescue operations in order to prevent a

collapse of the financial system These operations are government’s fiscal

activities rather financial intermediation and should therefore be reflected in statistics accordingly


The two types of restructuring being considered here are:

Restructuring the public sector:

selling of corporations or subsidiaries, of non-financial assets

the reorganization of establishments and changes in management

Defeasance of impaired assets: managing the impaired assets, their

sale and financing of the process.


Guidance is needed on how to establish whether the unit is publicly controlled and then whether it falls into the government sector directly or is to be treated as a publicly controlled financial corporation.

Government’s involvement in the process could range from merely initiating a restructuring process to fully bearing all the risks.


To be an institutional unit, a restructuring agency should be entitled to own assets, incur liabilities and engage in economic transactions with other units; and it must have a complete set of accounts.

If it is established specifically to implement government policy then there is clear evidence of government control.

Agencies operating on a market basis are treated as public corporations; those operating on a non-market basis are treated as units within general government.


Treated as a general government unit

risk assumed by government at the behest of government a pre-determined set of fiscal policy

objectives some common characteristics with financial

intermediation, but is not putting itself at risk. a mismatch between the assets and liabilities

and government’s commitment to assume the ultimate liability


Rerouting of transactions directly with government:

the economic substance of the transaction determines the value and timing recording

It is possible that a single entity controlled by government may undertake the restructuring of a number of enterprises which would then appear as subsidiaries of the entity.

Transfers of funds or assets from one of these subsidiaries to another, should be recorded as transactions between the government and the subsidiary directly and not routed via the entity.


Recommendation 13: If the restructuring agency acts only to implement pre-specified government policy and bears no risk in the transformation of financial instruments connected with the restructuring, the agency is regarded as a non-market unit and part of the general government sector.

Recommendation 14: If the restructuring agency puts itself at risk in the transformation of the assets and liabilities of the units in difficulty and if it can determine the costs it can charge for the restructuring activity, it is treated as a financial corporation. Whether it is publicly controlled or purely private financial corporation is determined using the usual criteria.

Recommendation 15: When government uses a restructuring unit to channel funds to a unit in financial difficulties and the restructuring unit derives its main resources from activities other than acting as an agent of government, these funds should be shown as payable and receivable by the government and unit concerned directly and not routed via the restructuring agency.


Output of ancillary units

Units in the 1993 SNA: Output of ancillary units cont

Market or non-market production? The output of NPIs serving businesses are treated

as market output. Ancillary units that serve businesses could be

treated similarly. If an ancillary unit is recognised as an institutional

unit and is classified as a corporation; its production is regarded as market output.

When it is classified in the general government sector, its production is regarded as non-market output.

Units in the 1993 SNA: Output of ancillary units cont

Recommendation 16: Output of ancillary units should be recorded as market output when it is classified as part of the financial or non-financial corporations sector and non-market output when it is classified in the general government sector.

Units in the 1993 SNAAltogether, 16 recommendations are made to the AEG.

Does the AEG agree with these recommendations?

Thank You

Units in the 1993 SNA:Ancillary activities

Recommendation 1: Units undertaking ancillary activities should be recognised as separate establishments (ancillary units) when they satisfy the conditions to be establishment and should be classified according to their own economic activity.

Recommendation 2: Output of an ancillary unit should be valued by sum of cost plus a proportional allocation of the operating surplus of the establishments it serves. Operating surplus of establishments it serves may be allocated to the ancillary unit in proportion to indicators such as their output, value added or employment.

Recommendation 3: Output of ancillary units should be allocated as intermediate consumption to establishments they serves in proportion to indicators such as their output, value added, or employment of the establishments using their services.

Units in the 1993 SNA:Ancillary corporations

Recommendation 4: Ancillary corporations should be recognized as institutional units and should be classified in their own right when they satisfy the criteria for qualifying as institutional units.

Units in the 1993 SNA:Holding companies

Recommendation 5: Parent companies without significant production recognized as holding companies should be classified as other financial intermediaries.

Units in the 1993 SNA:Special purpose entities

Recommendation 6: SPEs should be treated as institutional units when they satisfy the criteria for qualifying as institutional units and their output should be valued at cost if no market valuation method is available.

Recommendation 7: There is no need for a separate classification of SPEs as they undertake a range of economic activities. The activities should be examined on a case by case basis and classified by existing industrial and institutional sector classifications.

Recommendation 8: The term securitization vehicles should be used for institutional units that undertake securitization of assets only and such institutional units should be classified as other financial intermediaries.

Units in the 1993 SNA:Special purpose entities

Recommendation 9: All flows and stock positions between the general government and the non-resident SPE should be recorded in the general government and SPE accounts when they occur.

Recommendation 10: If securitization is based on a future stream of general government revenue it is not the sale of an asset, but a borrowing transaction of the government. The economic substance of this transaction is best accounted for by imputing general government borrowing from the non-resident SPE for the same value and at the same time that the SPE incurs a liability to the foreign creditor.

Recommendation 11: When government creates non-resident entities, such as SPEs, to undertake government borrowing and/or incurring government outlays abroad with no economic flows between the government and the SPEs related to these fiscal activities, transactions should be imputed in the accounts of both the government and the non-resident entity to reflect the fiscal activities of the government .

Units in the 1993 SNA: Trust and investment funds Recommendation 12: Trust funds and investment funds that are created as legal entities, even without employment, should be treated as institutional units. Their output should be valued at cost if no market valuation of their output is available. These units should be classified, separately from securitization vehicles, in the industry classification and as other financial intermediaries in the institutional sector classification.

Units in the 1993 SNA: Restructuring agencies

Recommendation 13: If the restructuring agency acts only to implement pre-specified government policy and bears no risk in the transformation of financial instruments connected with the restructuring, the agency is regarded as a non-market unit and part of the general government sector.

Recommendation 14: If the restructuring agency puts itself at risk in the transformation of the assets and liabilities of the units in difficulty and if it can determine the costs it can charge for the restructuring activity, it is treated as a financial corporation. Whether it is publicly controlled or purely private financial corporation is determined using the usual criteria.

Recommendation 15: When government uses a restructuring unit to channel funds to a unit in financial difficulties and the restructuring unit derives its main resources from activities other than acting as an agent of government, these funds should be shown as payable and receivable by the government and unit concerned directly and not routed via the restructuring agency.

Units in the 1993 SNA: Output of ancillary units

Recommendation 16: Output of ancillary units should be recorded as market output when it is classified as part of the financial or non-financial corporations sector and non-market output when it is classified in the general government sector.

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